SRS Scores on Streaming Surround

Would you like your streamed movies to include 5.1-channel sound? One way you may get it is through SRS, which is providing its surround technology to the Microsoft Silverlight streaming platform.

The alliance between SRS and Microsoft means that 5.1 will become available to video streaming media just when streaming is starting to emerge in a big way. The SRS 5.1 Surround Sound Toolkit will allow encoding and decoding of surround for streamed content.

Since its debut in 2007, Silverlight has become the streaming platform for Netflix, NBC, MTV, and iTV. Of course Silverlight is also built into Windows PCs via the Windows Media Player, versions 9 and up.

Meanwhile SRS has been busily getting its 5.1 codec into some a/v receiver models and soundbars as well as cell phones and car systems. SRS 5.1 is in nearly 60 percent of all internet-connected devices. Its various forms include Circle Surround (used in Marantz AVRs), TruSurround (used in Vizio and Yamaha soundbars), TheaterSound, and StudioSound HD. Various SRS surround technologies also appear in TVs from Haier, Hitachi, Insignia, LB, Olevia, Pioneer, RCA, Samsung, Sanyo, Sceptre, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Vizio.